It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Offering ourselves to God is what we worship about. Let us share our talents and resources to God with all our hearts and souls as one network of the Catholic Media that is pro-life, pro-people, pro-poor, service and community oriented.

Monday, September 1, 2014

CABANATUAN CITY, Nueva Ecija – Three years after
Malacañang called on the National Historical Commission of the Philippines
(NHCP) to look into several “historical errors” about events involving the
“Unang Sigaw ng Nueva Ecija,” these have yet to be corrected which would have
set the heroism of Gen. Mariano Llanera and other revolutionaries in its proper
perspective even as Novo Ecijanos observe today the 118th
anniversary of the historic revolt.

Among these
errors are accounts that up to 3,000 revolutionaries from this town marched
towards San Isidro and that they used a “musikang bumbong” in assaulting the
Spanish garrison in the afternoon of September 2,1896.

In
2011, Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications and
Operations Office (PCOO) said the NHCP, led by its executive director Ludovico
Badoy should conduct a thorough research on the historic event and make facts
and figures “accurate” and “realistic” to give justice to its heroes.

This
after local historian Jose Hipolito said one of these errors include accounts
that up to 3,000 revolutionaries from this town marched towards San Isidro with
the use of a “musikang bumbong” where they assaulted the Spanish garrison in
the afternoon of September 2,1896.

“That
is fatally wrong. The fact is only 753 revolutionaries laid siege in San Isidro and they
marched there accompanied not by “musikang bumbong” but by a brass band,”
Hipolito said.

He
said that the 3,000 supposed revolutionaries were too bloated a number and
would clearly constitute an “overkill” on the part of Llanera’s group since
they were up against only 100 Spanish soldiers.

Hipolito
said he knew of no one who conducted a realistic and in-depth research about
the revolution and its heroes. “I was the only one who went to the National
Archives to conduct my own research,” he said.

Aside
from the glaring historical inaccuracies, Mayor Gloria Crespo-Congco also
questioned that the center of celebrations for the annual event is often held
in the provincial capital PalayanCity and not in this
town. She said she had nothing against holding festivities in other towns to
commemorate the event for Novo Ecijanos to appreciate history but said Cabiao’s
role should be given utmost importance.

The late
69-year-old head of the marching band that stormed the Spanish garrison in San
Isidro also said Cabiao should be given recognition as the rightful venue for
anniversary rites.

Raul
Nogoy, Banda, ’96 leader said San
Isidro (then known as Factoria) can not be considered
as the center of the celebrations neither because this was where the Spaniards
held fort.

Today’s
provincial government-led activity will be held at the old provincial capitol,
according to provincial administrator Al Abesamis.

When
asked for his reaction regarding the issue over the venue, Abesamis did not
return text messages.

Local
officials in Cabiao said it is only fitting that organizers consider the town
as the center of celebrations because General Llanera was from Barangay San
Roque here.

The
event marks the day when Llanera and Gen. Pantaleon Valmonte led home-grown
revolutionaries, armed only with 100 guns, bolos and pointed sticks in
assaulting the Spanish garrison in San
Isidro on September 2,1896, two days after the “Unang
Sigaw ng Balintawak.”